Venezuela blames Exxon Mobil for row with Guyana over disputed waters

[Zorro]

Source: AFP

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blamed Exxon Mobil for strains with neighboring Guyana over disputed territorial waters, and said diplomacy should ultimately win out.

A decree issued by Caracas on May 27 lays claim to waters off the Essequibo River region, a disputed territory that borders Venezuela and encompasses more than half of Guyana.

The Venezuelan action came less than a month after Exxon Mobil said it had made a significant discovery in an offshore concession granted by Guyana.

In its statement on Monday, Guyana's foreign ministry said the Venezuelan decree was a violation of international law and a threat to regional peace and security.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-trades-accusations-guyana-over-disputed-waters-194045621.html

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But of course.

[Little Tich]

1. Here's a map that illustrates things quite nicely:

New Venezuelan decree claims ownership over Guyana’s continental shelf

Source: Kaiteur News

Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro on May 27 issued a decree creating the “Atlantic coast of Venezuela”which now includes sovereignty over Guyana’s territorial waters in the Atlantic Ocean off the Essequibo region.

A map, issued to coincide with this decree, indicates that Venezuela is now claiming all the territorial waters within the 200 miles range and blocking Guyana’s access to its resources in this area of the Atlantic Ocean.

Read more: http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2015/06/07/new-venezuelan-decree-claims-ownership-over-guyanas-continental-shelf/

NB: The yellow areas are de facto part of Guyana, Venezuela has no presence there.

[GGJohn]

2. Jeezus!!

Maduro has lost his fucking mind.
Is he trying to start an international incident?
I hope to hell the people of Venezuela throw his sorry ass out of office in the next elections, that is, if he allows elections and doesn't cancel them under some bullshit decree.

[Bacchus4.0]

3. The elections are the reason he is doing this

The government has yet to schedule elections (because they will lose) so they are "pulling a Falklands" appealing to nationalistic sentiments.

[GGJohn]

4. Well, that makes sense.

I wonder if the US would take action if Maduro tries to seize that disputed area with force?

[Bacchus4.0]

5. I doubt it. The bigger question is would the other countries in the region do anything

They have been very poor at pressuring governments in their own region to act appropriately on human rights and justice issues

[christx30]

6. If US interests are threatened?

Especially since those interests are a petroleum company? I think we all know the answer.

[Bacchus4.0]

8. Guayana has told Venezuela it will resist Venezuelan enforcement of its claims

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/09/guyana-says-venezuela-threatens-peace-and-security-over-oil-and-border-row

On Monday Guyana’s ministry of foreign affairs accused Venezuela of posing a “threat to regional peace and security” with its recent decree extending its territorial claims farther into the Atlantic Ocean.

The decree is a “flagrant violation of international law and is inconsistent with the principle that all states should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states”, the ministry said.

Guyana said any attempt by Venezuela to enforce its claims would be “vigorously resisted” and brought to the attention of the international community.

[Archae]

7. Apparently the lessons of Argentina are being ignored...

Maduro needs a distraction, like Argentina did before the Falklands war.
Maduro and the Argentinian generals are running/ran their countries into a sewer, so they need to grab some territory.

[Zorro]

9. Venezuela demands Guyana halt 'imperial' oil exploration

Venezuela on Tuesday demanded that neighboring Guyana halt oil exploration being carried out by Exxon Mobil Corp in disputed offshore territory in an escalation of a long-running border dispute between the two South American nations.

Exxon last month said it found oil off Guyana's coast, spurring complaints from Caracas that Guyana is unfairly exploiting a disputed territory that must be negotiated through a mechanism created via a 1966 treaty signed in Geneva.

"Until there is a resolution of the issue of territorial reclamation ... there can be no unilateral use of these waters," Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez said in televised comments.

"The new government of Guyana shows a dangerous political provocation against a peaceful Venezuela, supported by the imperial power of an American transnational, Exxon Mobil," she said, referring to Guyanese authorities elected in May.

http://news.yahoo.com/venezuela-demands-guyana-halt-imperial-oil-exploration-020404800--finance.html